Today, Bandai Namco announced 11-11 Memories Retold, a game that is set during World War 1 (WW1) and tells the tale of two soldiers who are brought together through unlikely circumstances. The project will be headed by DigixArt, the French studio who’s creators crafted the game Valiant Hearts: The Great War. DigixArt will be collaborating with Aardman Animation Studios, a British animation studio founded in 1972 and is well known for the Wallace and Gromit film series.
In the teaser trailer that was released today, viewers were able to see a beautifully animated watercolor art piece, with pictures of red poppies swaying in the breeze and the war-scarred trenches of WW1. Over the soft sound of heartwrenching music ‘In Flanders Field‘ was recited, a poem by Canadian writer John McCrae that told a story from the point of view of the dead that sacrificed themselves in the war.
@BandaiNamcoEU, @Aardman Studios and @DigixArt are proud to announce 11-11: #MemoriesRetold, a game that explores the compelling stories of people brought together through the trials of World War 1.https://t.co/Sl5533hHHz
— MemoriesRetold (@MemoriesRetold) April 25, 2018
In a vlog about 11-11 Memories Retold, Yoan Fanise (co-founder of DigixArt) spoke about how the game explores the “humanity” between the two sides, and how that humanity doesn’t go away just because there is an on-going war. He also mentioned how a trip to Aardman Animation Studios quickly inspired the art style of 11-11 Memories Retold, particularly liking the 3D animation and how it could be made to look like a painting.
There is also a personal side to this project that helped Fanise decide on the topic of WW1. In an email to VentureBeat, Fanise said “World War One is a big part of the heritage that we have in common with the British people. In Great Britain, every year on 11-11, people wear a poppy in memory of the fallen. This project is our little poppy.” He continued, “It’s also a part of history that touches me personally as my great-grandfather fought in the trenches. He lost a leg and his brother there.”
A game that is certain to touch the hearts of many. 11-11 Memories Retold currently doesn’t have a release date, but expect more information to come out sometime in the future.
